Enjoy the rich goodness of chocolate overnight oats for breakfast with this quick and simple oats recipe. These overnight oats are gluten-free and made with pantry staple ingredients. With just 5 minutes of prep work, they’re such an easy breakfast idea you’re going to love.
No, that’s not brownie batter, despite what it looks like. It’s actually super nutritious chocolate overnight oats! These chocolate oats are rich and dreamy yet they take 5 minutes to put together so much less work than actual brownie batter.
Reasons you’ll love these Chocolate oats
- There’s chocolate, do I need to say more?
- Gluten-free and they can easily be made dairy-free or vegan if needed!
- Versatile because they can be eaten for breakfast or as a dessert
- Travel-friendly since they are served in a jar, they can be enjoyed wherever your adventures take you
Ingredients for Chocolate Overnight Oats
Making overnight oats only requires a few base ingredients. Beyond that, it’s just adding the fun flavors, and for this recipe that means chocolate and more chocolate!
- Rolled Oats: To start, we need oats for overnight oats! These require 1/2 a cup of old-fashioned rolled oats. You can also use quick oats but the texture will be more mushy, which you may want if you are really going for that brownie batter texture.
- Milk: You can use any milk you like (cow’s milk, plant milk, lactose-free, chocolate milk, etc). Just make sure it’s unsweetened since this recipe adds additional sweetener.
- Brown Sugar: Brown sugar works best for this recipe because the nutty flavor is a great addition to the richness of chocolate.
- Chia Seeds: When chia seeds come in contact with liquid, they expand which helps to thicken up the mixture.
- Chocolate & Cocoa Powder: We need lots of chocolate for these overnight oats. I use unsweetened baking cocoa powder and chocolate chunks. You can use mini chocolate chips, a chopped-up chocolate candy bar, dairy-free chocolate chips, or any other chocolate you have on hand.
- Salt: This is really critical when working with chocolate as it brings out the actual roasted chocolate flavor.
Leftover Chocolate
If you’re like me and have leftover chocolate bars from baking adventures and miscellaneous candy, use it in the overnight oats! This chocolate oats recipe is a great way to clean out that pantry candy.
How to make Chocolate overnight oats
Making overnight oats couldn’t be easier. All you need is to mix the ingredients in a jar and then be patient while it sets up!
- Mix everything in the jars
- Chill for at least 2 hours
- Serve straight from the jar!
Best Overnight Oats Jars
After trying out a bunch of different jars for overnight oats, these are my favorites!
Storage
To store these overnight oats, keep them sealed in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you want to meal prep them, double or triple the batch and keep in individual-sized serving jars.
Substitutions
- For The Milk, you can substitute plant-based milk to make it vegan. You can also use chocolate milk for extra chocolate flavor. If you use this, reduce the brown sugar amount to account for the sugar already in chocolate milk.
- For The Chia Seeds, you can use flaxseeds or nut butter in place of chia seeds. Peanut butter is a great compliment to chocolate!
Can you use Sweetened cocoa powder?
Yes, you can use sweetened cocoa powder or even hot chocolate mix but will need to reduce the brown sugar amount. I recommend starting with no brown sugar, taste, and then adding sugar little by little until you reach the desired sweetness level.
Is Cocoa the same as cacao?
No, cocoa is the processed version of cacao. Typically cacao is sold as nibs (like unsweetened chocolate chips) while cocoa is sold as powder. If you have powdered cacao, it can be used in place of cocoa powder but you will likely need to add more sugar to the oats. Cacao is a bit more bitter than cocoa.
Make It Your Own!
- Add Nuts like peanuts for extra crunch and protein
- Add Spices like cinnamon or espresso powder for a breakfast mocha
- Add chocolate protein powder for more fueling overnight oats and extra chocolate flavor
- Add bananas, strawberries, or cherries for a fresh bite in a sea of rich chocolate
More Overnight Oat Recipes You’ll Love
If you want more fun and unique overnight oats recipes, try one of our other delicious combinations!
- Sea Salt and Date Overnight Oats combine sweet and sticky with savory and salty for a flavor similar to salted caramel.
- Pina Colada Overnight Oats uses tropical pineapple with sweet coconut to put you on Island time.
- Pb & J Overnight Oats are everything you love about the classic sandwich but for breakfast.
- Cookie Dough Overnight Oats are better than cookie dough and take half as much work.
Ingredients
- ½ cup rolled oats 40 g
- ½ cup milk can use dairy-free, 120 mL
- 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 Tbsp chocolate chips
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar 15 g
- 1 Tbsp chia seeds 7 g
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- Assemble: Add all ingredients to a jar and stir to combine. Seal shut with a lid.
- Refrigerate: Set in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight, or until oats are soft.
- Serve: Serve chilled straight from the jar!
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